Six Games Publishers Can’t Stop Re-Releasing

Re-releases are common in the world of video games, but there are a few publishers who seem to lean on the same games a little harder than others. Here are some games that feel like they get a new re-release every twenty minutes.

Resident Evil 4Resident Evil 4 originally released for the GameCube in 2005, and it was a huge hit. Critics and players alike loved the game, and they bought lots of copies. Nine months later, Capcom re-released the game for PlayStation 2 with added content. Two years later, the game released for PC players. That same year, the game released a fourth time for the Wii with updated controls. For its fifth release in 2008, a tweaked version released for mobile devices, then iPhones, and then iPads. In 2011, Capcom added HD textures and released the game for the PlayStation Network and for Xbox Live Arcade. This year, another new version of the game, the Ultimate Edition HD will release on Steam.

Capcom can’t seem to stop releasing Resident Evil 4. Resident Evil 5 and 6, as well as many other Resident Evil games have all released since 2006, but Capcom insists on making sure Resident Evil 4 is played by every human on the planet by making sure it’s available on every platform.

Mega Man and Mega Man XEntries in both the Mega Man and Mega Man X series have seen their fair share of re-releases on assorted platforms, but the originals of the two series appear to be running a race against one another to see who can re-release the most. Both games have been included on anthology collections, both were re-made for PSP, both appear on mobile devices, and both appear on the Wii and Wii U Virtual Consoles, the latter of which has been slow to fill out its library. There are some forks where the two part ways. Mega Man X saw release on PC a few years after its Super Nintendo releases, and Mega Man appeared on a Japan exclusive PlayStation anthology and is also available on 3DS. It has been a close re-release race for years, and at the rate the two and Capcom are going, I don’t think the two will be making it to the finish line any time soon.

Sonic the HedgehogRather than recount the assorted platforms Sonic the Hedgehog has released on over the years, here’s a screenshot of Sonic the Hedgehog’s platform release list on Wikipedia.

If you have something capable of playing video games, then you can play Sonic the Hedgehog on it. There are 19 different platforms listed on Wikipedia, and that’s not counting the assorted dedicated plug and play devices that include Sonic’s first release.

Final FantasySquare Enix is no stranger to re-releasing its Final Fantasy games. Final Fantasy X and X-2 are coming a little bit later this year in HD, and it’s not the first to be released in this way. The winner, however, of the Final Fantasy re-release contest goes to the original. Before its remake for PlayStation in 2003, the game released on NES, the MSX2 and the WonderSwan Color. Since that time the game has also released on Game Boy Advance, PSP, the Wii’s Virtual Console, the PlayStation Network, and all mobile devices – even the Windows Phone.

Ninja GaidenThe original Ninja Gaiden has seen its fair share of assorted re-releases over the years, but it’s the more recent Ninja Gaiden from Team Ninja that has the more curious re-release schedule. The game first released in 2004 and saw re-release only a year later with the Black subtitle. A few years later, Team Ninja brought the game to PlayStation 3 with the Sigma subtitle. In 2012 Ninja Gaiden Sigma was brought to the Vita as a launch game for the handheld. Between 2004 and 2012, Ninja Gaiden saw four separate releases, and the releases of Ninja Gaiden II and III. Despite working on sequels, Team Ninja still saw the need to continue re-releasing the original.

As long as people keep buying these games publishers will keep re-releasing them. I will openly admit that I have bought Mega Man X six different times, and many of you have admitted to buying the same game multiple times as well. Are there other games you feel like you see a re-release every twenty minutes?